Times Cryptic No 27594 – Saturday, 22 February 2020. More food for thought.

Author   branchPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
I’m sorry this is a half hour late. I’m not sure why. Some weird time zone problem, I suspect.

Anyway, the puzzle was not as easy to finish over lunch as last week’s, but was again plenty of delightful clues. It was rather hard to get started, but then things mostly flowed smoothly. The last few answers took a little longer to polish off (unlike lunch!).

FOI was 10ac, and LOI 25ac. It’s hard to pick a favourite from the well disguised definitions and the clever wordplay. I loved the ‘enemy’ at 5dn, but I will pick 22ac simply because I thought the definition was a delight.

Clues are blue, with definitions underlined. (ABC*) means ‘anagram of ABC’. Deletions are in [square brackets].

Across
1 Squads back in uniform before training session initially (5)
UNITS – I looked at this askance, but it works fine. UNI is IN U[-niform], ‘back’. Then  TS is T-raining] S[-essions], ‘initially’.
4 In play, Charlie gets oddly sluggish (9)
LETHARGIC – (CHARLIE G-T-*), ‘in play’.
9 Arcane pursuit last month featured in violent comics (9)
OCCULTISM – ULT (last month) in ‘violent’ (COMICS*).
10 Cook‘s pan (5)
ROAST – double definition.
11 Golden days during month in the country (6)
JORDAN – JAN[-uary] is the month. Include OR (golden) and D (days).
12 Like a small bully boy casing hotel (2,6)
AS THOUGH – A S[-mall] TOUGH, ‘casing’ H for hotel. When I first saw the answer, I thought the bully might be a THUG, but that didn’t work of course.
14 Upsetting measurement system outfitter’s familiar with? (9)
CAPSIZING – double definition. The second is fanciful, although no doubt ‘sizing caps’ is a thing.
16 Patent scheme I introduced (5)
PLAIN – I in PLAN.
17 The setter had brief simple clues (5)
IDEAS – I’D (the setter had), EAS[-Y]. The definition is nicely understated.
19 Dozy supporter more often away (9)
BRAINLESS – BRA (a supporter, in crosswordland), IN LESS (away more often, so at home less).
21 Revolutionary working extended? Not any more (2,6)
NO LONGER – NO comes from a revolutionary ON (working). LONGER is extended.
22 Artful Dodger always got round Bill (6)
EVADER – EVER (always) around AD (bill). So, the answer is nothing to do with Dickens.
25 Yield from funds reduced (5)
BUDGE – drop the T from BUDGE[-t].
26 Hooded Asian ruler leading troops on horse (4,5)
KING COBRA – KING (ruler), RA (troops) on COB (horse).
27 No-hoper confused with MD, a stout fellow (9)
ENDOMORPH – (NO HOPER MD*), ‘confused’. I know mesomorphs are the muscular ones, but I struggle to remember endomorphs and ectomorphs. Anyhow, this is the big guy.
28 Strike abruptly terminated by hospital worker (5)
SMITH – SMIT[-e], H[-ospital]. Another I had to look at more than once before I was happy to put it in.

Down
1 Ambition in combination with skill is OK (15)
UNOBJECTIONABLE – OBJECT (ambition) in UNION (combination), then ABLE (with skill).
2 Run into S American once leaving a historic city (5)
INCUR – INC[-a], UR. Obvious once you think of the setters’ prime choice for a historic city, UR.
3 Having dashed inside, one’s brought up teaching schedules (7)
SYLLABI – BALLY (dashed) inside I’S (one’s), all backwards (‘brought up’).
4 Joint leaders of industry non-committal at first (4)
LOIN – spelled out by the first letters of each word.
5 I’m stealing misplaced report of the enemy’s progress? (4,6)
TIME SIGNAL – (IM STEALING*), ‘misplaced’. Why is time the enemy?
The innocent and the beautiful have no enemy but time (William Butler Yeats).
6 Outdated transporter freshens fruit (7)
AIRSHIP – alternatively, AIRS HIP.
7 A large nut supply to grind (9)
GRANULATE – (A LARGE NUT*), ‘supplying’. I am a little unconvinced that ‘to grind’ is to granulate. Grains are what you have before grinding, I would have thought, not after.
8 Gasp in surprise: I disturbed bathers (5,4,6)
CATCH ONES BREATH – CATCH (surprise, as in ‘I caught him unawares’), ONE (I), then (BATHERS*) ‘disturbed’.
13 Make fast roller a time-saver at Wimbledon (10)
TIEBREAKER – TIE (make fast), BREAKER (roller).
15 Barred musical movement involving about 500 (9)
PRECLUDED – PRELUDE involving C (about), then D (500).
18 Timber to support Spartan characters climbing shaft (7)
SUNBEAM – NUS are Spartan (or more generally, Greek) letters or characters. Turn them round to make them climb, then add BEAM (timber). A shaft of light.
20 Why craftsmen can’t grip religious recruits? (7)
NOVICES – the craftsmen apparently have NO VICES on their workbenches.
23 New York chum served up excellent port (5)
DUBAI – BUD served ‘up’, then AI for excellent.
24 Cross but not completely thank heavens! (4)
ANKH – hidden answer.

18 comments on “Times Cryptic No 27594 – Saturday, 22 February 2020. More food for thought.”

  1. I went offline at 30′, with 15d, 14ac, & 25ac unsolved, and took about 10 minutes during lunch to get those, 15 being LOI. DNK ‘dozy’ in the required sense. At 9ac, I dithered between ULT and DEC, and unfortunately started with DEC. Enemy=TIME, if not quite a chestnut, has been used a few times here. COD to 1d.
  2. At 18ac Dozy f***** is a very English pejorative.

    FOI 28ac SMITH

    LOI 3dn SYLLABI I would normally use SYLLABUSES

    COD 25ac BUDGE

    WOD 24dn ANKH

    Yesterday I returned to the ‘The Oldie’ Crossword after a couple of years absence. New setter – sadly a shadow of its former self. Tomorrow the answers to last month’s Club Monthly Special! Last time out only one respondent.

    1. Couldn’t agree more. It used to be a highlight each month but now it’s dull and much the same every time so that I finish it in about half-an-hour.

      I had planned to cancel my sub as the rest of the magazine is not what it was either (I still miss Ingrams), but they operate a weird subscription system by which automatic renewal moves a month earlier every year so I find myself locked in until next January.

      Edited at 2020-02-29 06:01 am (UTC)

      2. just cancel the direct debit now, while you remember .. you will still get the mag until then
  3. 35 minutes, the fastest of solving times quoted thus far! My only slight problem was the unknown 24dn but I worked on the principal that I hadn’t seen a hidden answer at that point and there usually is one so I took a chance on ANKH, unlikely as it appeared, and it proved to be correct. Later my dictionary helpfully pointed out that it’s a cross symbolising eternal life which often appears in Egyptian personal names, such as TutANKHamen – something that may help me to remember it in future.
  4. 53 minutes, so struggled a bit. I saw SUNBEAM readily enough, since Jesus has wanted me for one since Sunday School days but I had a mental block about the climbing NUS from Sparta. Nu was always used for frequency in Planck’s equation, and I’d have seen that straightaway. I needed most of the crossers for UNOBJECTIONABLE too. I know that the same word for support is used far too much, but still COD to BRAINLESS for producing the smile of the day. If only Cassius had been an ENDOMORPH, the ides of March that year might have been a normal day. So have another piece of pie. Thank you B and setter.

    Edited at 2020-02-29 07:46 am (UTC)

  5. Difficult for me, especially the LH side.
    26ac, KING COBRA was interesting in that it cropped up in The Times Daily Quiz at about the same time.
    Thanks, Bruce for deciphering NUS in SUNBEAM.
    Equal billing as COD to 12ac, 14ac and 1d.
    MOTD: I just don’t like the way setters use plurals to clue single letters as in D for “days” in 11ac
  6. MOTD last Saturday was of course Preston v Hull and I spent a pleasant hour on the train up solving all but three: 14a,15d and 25a ( Budge,Capsizing,Precluded) were the problems. And in the end I gave up after a long stare.
    It did not help that I was never fully confident about the parsing of UNOBJECTIONABLE; Skill = Ability? Etc. IDEALISED fitted in 15d and supported my tailor theory for 14a.
    Ah well,today is another day and another trip, this time to Craven Cottage; a shorter journey but a signal failure at Parsons Green (reported today) may give me some extra time.
    David

  7. ….is a good reference to the nap I often enjoy on the coach coming home. Today we’re at Hereford (a new ground for me) and, while half the games in our league are victims of waterlogging, their pitch has passed the referee’s inspection. Cue light snoring on the M5 about 6pm.

    I really enjoyed this puzzle, especially since I was guest of honour at 11A (my lucky number !). I needed two minutes to alpha-trawl my LOI, and parsed UNOBJECTIONABLE afterwards. I though ANKH was the best “hidden” I’d seen in many a moon.

    FOI UNITS
    LOI SYLLABI
    COD BRAINLESS
    TIME 13:51

  8. I guess I was on the wavelength for this one, cruising through in 17.32. I see the average time taken, according to the Club, was 42.53, and given the many people who type in their solutions at pace in order to enter the prize draw, that makes it at best only marginally easier than Thursdays blockbuster. Weird.
  9. I also found this tougher than usual, taking 50:48 to finish, and having to look up my LOI, SYLLABI, as it just wouldn’t come to mind. I doubt I’d have come up with ANKH if it hadn’t been a hidden. UNOBJECTIONABLE needed all the checkers. Endomorph rang a faint bell once I’d constructed it. Nice puzzle. Thanks setter and Bruce.
  10. 32:53. So Iw asn’t the only one to find this tough then. It was the SW corner that held me up most, according to my paper copy. LOI the innocuous BUDGE. COD to TIME SIGNAL.
  11. 12:57. I seem to have been on the wavelength for this one.
    I wondered about GRANULATE. I suppose the nature of the process depends on what you start with: granulation from a liquid or powder is a form of agglomeration but from a solid block you might do it by grinding.
  12. Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!
    Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ.
  13. 40:50. I found this quite hard. I liked in less for more often away at 19ac and capsizing at 14ac.
  14. I got off to a very slow start but picked up speed as I worked through it. A pleasant solve at my preferred level of difficulty. 27 minutes. Ann

Comments are closed.